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boulet

cannonball

noun boo-LAY Rare

Also means

dead weight (figurative)

Usage Note

Boulet originally referred to an iron cannonball, but in modern informal French it describes a burden or a tedious person — quel boulet! means 'what a drag!'. The idiom traîner un boulet ('to drag a ball and chain') captures the figurative sense vividly.

Examples

"Ce projet est un vrai boulet pour l'équipe."

Natural Translation

This project is a real dead weight for the team.

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